


Three Years

by stopmopingstarthoping



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 19:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13887951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stopmopingstarthoping/pseuds/stopmopingstarthoping
Summary: Even after three years, grief ebbs and flows in different ways. Post-canon.





	Three Years

It no longer burned at him directly upon waking.  It was background noise now, as guilty as that thought made him feel. Like a bad back, or a troublesome knee. Like a pair of dark glasses. 

But still, he functioned.  Laughed, even - lived his life, loved his people. Three years was longer than it had seemed from the other side. 

He had a bad habit though, still, after so much time.  Every time he heard a radio reporter announce the death of a prominent person, he compared.

_ “- the sadly unexpected death of Sophia Dorden at forty-six -” _

_ Still sixteen more years than Noct got, _ he thought, sipping at his coffee.

“- _ mourning the death of fifty-seven-year-old Gabon Arlund -” _

Lifting his chin to shave his neck, Ignis wondered if Noctis could have been a grandfather at fifty-seven. 

_ “Respected business leader Alfonso Ghiranze has passed away today at the age of ninety -” _

_ Two more lifetimes, _ he thought.  _ What could he have done with all that time?  _ He rinsed his teeth and spat. 

It was not a healthy response, probably, but he couldn't stop himself. 

On those days, he would tuck his chin down into his coat and stride along bitterly through the streets.  He was glad it was cold. 

Just yesterday, as a matter of fact - just bloody  _ yesterday _ \- he'd been in a car, being driven back home, which he despised, but there it was.  The driver had asked to put on music, and he'd agreed with a small incline of his head. Stupidly, as it turned out.

The song was one Noctis had loved. Ignis was slammed back into a sunny Regalia, complaining about letting the sappy thing play. Peering into the rear view mirror to see windblown hair and an easy grin. Shaking his head and letting it play, listening to a light tenor sing along from the back seat. 

Three years were suddenly nothing, and tears pricked at his eyes, infuriating him.  His chest ballooned, and his palms began to sweat. He dreaded losing control in front of this random stranger, and he clenched his back teeth together, hard.  At times like this he desperately missed his sight, missed being able to focus his eyes on something and collect himself. He froze, unable to even trust himself to ask the driver to change the song. 

The song ended, the car pulled up, and he thanked the driver with a tight smile.  He allowed his posture a slight slump as he heard the car pull off. He felt a hand on his chest. 

“Hey. You okay?”

Another tight smile. “Not really.” His breathing was still rapid. 

The hand wrapped around the back of his neck, tipping his head down.

“Yeah, I know. It still hits you sometimes, huh?”  A forehead pressed to his and the tears he'd been holding back seeped out. He felt wet eyelashes at his own neck then, and Ignis let himself relax a little, nodding in response, letting out painful breaths. 

They stood wrapped around each other for a long moment. Ignis felt Prompto pull away then, and heard him pick up his bag. 

“Babe? You wanna go inside?”

Ignis nodded, and twined his fingers into the hand offered to him.

 


End file.
